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Excel to
Power BI

The Power BI journey

The Power BI
journey

Learning
journey

Advanced level, Functions, Macros

02Intermediate level

03
07

Power BI designer, Power BI web app

04

Basic understanding

Power Query

01

05
Power Pivot & DAX

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Power view, power map

The Power BI
journey

Learning curve

01

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2

01
Excel learning curve
02
Power pivot learning curve
02

A typical learning curve for excel

A typical learning curve for

Power pivot

Courtesy: PowerPivot Pro

Courtesy: PowerPivot Pro

The Power BI
journey

3 stages of
Power BI
Analytics

Discover
Power Query is for

1
Analyze

data & data sources

internet

Search, Connect, arrange, normalize, access & transform

from internal data, external,

Power Pivot is for

Easy data
modeling and preparing data for what you want to see in your
visualization.

Sources are Excel table, power query or data connections to databases

& other services.

Visualize
Power View and
Power Map & Power BI
apps are for

Its time to visualize the data model

The Power BI
journey
Stage 1
Discover

Power Query
data sources

Power Query
look

Power Query
data sources

Power Query
data tabs

01

02

03

01
Data Connections from Files
02 Connection from other sources
Data
03Combining data

Data connections to
Excel files, CSV and
text files

Connections to SAP
BOBI, Facebook etc.

Merging &
Appending data
queries

The Power BI
journey
Stage 1
Discover

Power Query
data sources

Power Query
look

Power Query
data tabs

01

01Power Query editor

After connecting with data source,

power query editors window appears
as shown above

Each editing step is

monitored & can be
reversed

The Power BI
journey

Power Query
data sources

Power Query
look

Power Query
data tabs

Stage 1
Discover

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1
0
2
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3

Power Query home

tab
Power Query
transform tab
Power Query add
column tab

Query can be refreshed, format of a particular column can be selected, two queries
can be merged or appended

Wonderful feature of unpivot column.

Column can be split, header row can be established & format of the columns
can be done here.

A new column can be added etc.

The Power BI
journey

Power pivot
interface

Relationships

Understanding
DAX

DAX Function
types

Stage 2
Analyze

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Adding data
Adding data-through P.
Query

Any excel table can be added directly through selecting add to

data model above

If data is first obtained through power

query then after doing formatting, it can
be loaded to power pivot through close
& load to option in power query editor.

The Power BI
journey

Power pivot
interface

Relationships

Understanding
DAX

DAX Function
types

Stage 2
Analyze

The PowerPivot database is a set of tables that are loaded in

memory and saved into an Excel workbook. When loaded in
memory, these tables are viewed in the PowerPivot window, not
on Excels worksheets.
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Power pivot ?

0 Power pivot
2 0 look
2

After adding the

data to data model
this is what you will
get.
At this stage
relationships can be
established among
various data tables
Each table appears
as separate
worksheet in power
pivot
Calculated columns
can be added.
Calculated fields
(explained later) can
be added.

The Power BI
journey

Power pivot
interface

Relationships

Understanding
DAX

DAX Function
types

Stage 2
Analyze

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1

Data
relationship

Establishing Links among various tables is very easy.

Each block represents one table having many columns and related columns can be
simply dragged and joined.
One to one relationships can be made by joining related columns from two tables
So far the relationships support one to one relationship.
For many to many relationships, a table with common records can be created and
both columns can be joined to the single or unique value table.

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The Power BI
journey

Power pivot
interface

Relationships

Understanding
DAX

DAX Function
types

Stage 2
Analyze

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DAX formulas can be used either

in PowerPivot tables, or in
PivotTables in Excel:

Formulas can be used in

calculated columns, by adding a
column and then typing an
expression in the formula bar in
the PowerPivot window.

Formulas can also be used in

measures. You create these
formulas in Excel, by clicking
Calculated
fields
caninbe
to a
Calculated
fields
anadded
existing
particular
table
PowerPivot
PivotTable or
PivotChart.
Flexibility of adding name and
description of the Calculated
fields.

Calculated fieldsDAX

Formula can range from simple

multiplication, subtraction to
complex DAX queries

Each formula can be assigned to a

category like percentage,

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The Power BI
journey

Power pivot
interface

Relationships

Understanding
DAX

DAX Function
types

12

Stage 2
Analyze

0 Calculated
1 0fields/columns
2
0 DAX Definition
2
0
3
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DAX exampleSimple
DAX examplecomplex

The same formula can

behave
differently
depending on whether
the formula is used in
a calculated column
or a measure.
In
a
calculated
column, the formula is
always
applied
to
every
row
in
the
column,
throughout
the table. Depending
on the row context,
the
value
might
change.
In
a
measure
(calculated
fields)
however,
the
calculation of results
is strongly dependent
on context. That is,
the design of the
PivotTable and the

What is DAX (Data Analysis

eXpressions)?
DAX is a collection of functions, operators, and constants
that can be used in a formula, or expression, to calculate and
return one or more values. In other words, DAX helps you
create new information from data already in your model.

Total revenue := (Revenue[Sell Net Total])+(Revenue[Fuel

surcharge])
Yield := [Sum of Carrier revenue ]/[Sum of Weight Chargeable
KG]
DAX can be a simple formula as above where REVENUE
is the table name and [sell Net total] is the columns
name
MTD Revenue Net
:=TOTALMTD(SUM([Sell
Net]),(Table1[Account Date]))
DAX can be a complex
formula like above
which calculates month
to date revenue for the
selected context. The
BLUE highlighted items
are called functions.

Previous Quarter Sales:=

CALCULATE(Revenue[Sell Net Total],
PREVIOUSQUARTER(Revenue[Acco
unt date]))
DAX becomes more complex by
adding calculate function
which calculates the figures for
the selected context or slicer,
or by ignoring the context,
depending on how it is used.

The Power BI
journey

Power pivot
interface

Relationships

Understanding
DAX

DAX Function
types

13

DAX
Deep understanding of these DAX functions is very
essential and can make a big difference in the data model
buildup and later its use in the dashboards
Time intelligence
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1

Understanding
Functions
0 Types of various
2 functions

CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH
CLOSINGBALANCEQUARTER
CLOSINGBALANCEYEAR
ENDOFMONTH
ENDOFQUARTER
ENDOFYEAR
FIRSTDATE
LASTDATE
NEXTDAY
NEXTMONTH
NEXTQUARTER

Time intelligence

NEXTYEAR
OPENINGBALANCEMOTH
AND
PARALLELPERIOD
FALSE
PREVIOUSDAY
IF
PREVIOUSMONTH
IFERROR
PREVIOUSQUARTER
NOT
PREVIOUSYEAR
OR
SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR
TRUE
TOTALMTD
TOTALQTD
TOTALYTD

Statistical Functions

AVERAGE
AVERAGEA
AVERAGEX
COUNT
COUNTA
COUNTAX
COUNTBLANK
COUNTROWS

COUNTX
Date and

MAX
MIN
DATE
MINA
DATEVALUE
MINX
DAY

EDATE

EOMONTH

HOUR

MINUTE

MONTH

Time functions

The Power BI
journey
Stage 3
Visualization

01 Power view look

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Power view with card

as slicers

Power View

Power Map

Power BI
designer

Power BI on
web

Power BI
windows app

Power BI
iOS/Android
app

Power view is the instant

visualization available
within Excel.
Through inserting power
view, PowerPivot data
model can be viewed a
power view

Various fields can be

selected as slicers/cards and
data can be viewed with
reference to particular
context.

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The Power BI
journey
Stage 3
Visualization

01 Power map view

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2

Power map-heat
map

Power View

Power Map

Power BI
designer

Power BI on
web

Power BI
windows app

Power BI
iOS/Android
app

The power map function

allows to have a
geographical view of the
data.
Various data layers can be
added on one map where the
height or width can
represent various data
characteristics
Various data layers can be
shown with reference to
timeline of the changes in
data over time.

In addition to bar charts, map

contains the functionality of
showing heat maps

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The Power BI
journey

Power View

Stage 3
Visualization

Power Map

Power BI
designer

Power BI on
web

Power BI
windows app

Power BI
iOS/Android
app

This application combines Power

Query, Power Pivot Data Model and Power
View into a seamless experience that will
allow users to build their Power BI
elements in an offline fashion and then
upload to the Power BI Service

The Power BI Designer is a companion

application for Power BI. It is a standalone
Windows Desktop application that can bae
downloaded from the Power BI site

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1

Power BI
Designer ?
02 Power BI designer
0 View
032 Report & Query
buttons

Designer is a great report building tool

which gives lot of charting options.

There are two buttons on the lower left

hand corner. The Report button opens
the report as shown in the left hand
side. Whereas Query button opens the
query in power view.

The data can be arranged in power

query and report can be designed. This
file can thus be used as a source file to
power BI application.

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The Power BI
journey
Stage 3
Visualization

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1

Power BI windows
app
0 Dash Board Inside
2 0 View
2

Power View

Power Map

Power BI
designer

Power BI on
web

Power BI
windows app

Power BI
iOS/Android
app

Available through office

365 subscription.
Left hand side lists down
all the created
dashboards
Dashboard connects to
wide variety of resources
from local MS Excel,
Power bi designer files to
resources like google
Analytics, appfigure,
marketo etc.
Every dash board allows user to do
Q&A where questions can be asked
from the data
The charts can be selected from
already designed charts in Power
BI designer or created through
Q&A.
The formatting of the charts can
also be done.
Questions can be further improved
by selecting existing fields on the
go.

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The Power BI
journey
Stage 3
Visualization

Power View

Power Map

Power BI
designer

Power BI on
web

Power BI
windows app

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1
0
2
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Power BI
windows app
Dash Boards Inside
View

Power BI
iOS/Android
app

App can be downloaded from

windows store.
Currently office 365 subscription
is required to use the
functionality
Left hand side view shows the
format of the dashboard

By clicking a specific
dashboard further details of
the dashboard can be seen.

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The Power BI
journey

Power View

Stage 3
Visualization

Power Map

Power BI
designer

Power BI on
web

Power BI
windows app

Power BI
iOS/Android
app

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1

Power BI iOS app

view
02 Inside View of
Dashboard

App is available on iOS and Play

store.

By clicking a specific
dashboard further details can
be seen as displayed. Above is
a screenshot from an iPhone.

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The Power BI
journey

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Learning
resources

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Books
Sites/Blogs

>>>>>>From medium to advanced knowledge >>>>>

http://www.powerpivotpro.com/
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powerbi/
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/

The Power BI
journey

21

Upcoming
Developments

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My personal advice

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Upcoming Features

Interested users should use power pivot and power query for all the data analysis
no matter what is the size of the data and complexity involved.

DAX is the core knowledge area and improving DAX skill will make a great
difference in making you a great data analyst

In addition to practicing and spending time in excel, users should read academic
material on the BI and DAX as it will significantly help in understanding the
concept and its application. I have given some references earlier.

Complete each analysis from adding data to the model to final Dash board as it will
help understanding the complete cycle of the power BI.

On July 24, 2015 power BI is going to be generally available.

Power BI designer will be renamed as Power Bi Desktop.
Some new chart types like waterfall and area charts and matrix will be
added.
Q&A visual formatting will be announced.
Space management on power BI will also be introduced.

The Power BI
journey

22

About me

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Introduction

I am a Finance & Accounting professional and Fellow member of The Institute of

Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.
I have got 14+ years of experience in managing the financial affairs of large
scale Corporate entities as head of Finance and Accounting departments.
I have a passion for Business intelligence products/solutions & Financial Data
modelling.
Currently I am working as Finance Director with Saudi Airlines Cargo Company
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Email: Zubkhan@gmail.com. Feel free to ask any question and I would be glad
to answer.
LinkedIn: https://sa.linkedin.com/in/zedakhan